Hawaii Theatre

The article in Main Line Media News unfortunately perpetuates some of the misinformation that has been written about the Hawaii in recent years.

The architectural style of the Hawaii was Neo-Classical/Beaux Arts, not Art Deco. In 1936, the outer and inner lobbies and mezzanine areas were redecorated with Tropical Deco elements, much of it locally crafted, but these were removed when the theatre was renovated in the 1990s. The present marquee is an exact replica of the one installed in 1936 (albeit with modern electronic readerboards), which was the largest neon sign in the islands, and was removed in the 1990s.

The painted mural (not tapestries) by artist Lionel Walden is on the sounding board above the proscenium, not on the walls. One half of the mural, painted on canvas, lifted off and fell (and WAS thrown out by an unknowing janitor) in the 1970s because the roof drains were plugged with debris and heavy rains accumulated and leaked onto the wood lath and plaster supporting the mural, half of which then gave way and fell. The other half was fine. Photos of the complete mural existed in not only in several local private collections, but in architectural magazines of the period held by many libraries in the country, among them the U. of Penn.

The Hawaii WAS among the first buildings in Hawaii to have modern air-conditioning (at the same time as the newly opened Waikiki Theatre) but fans did NOT blow over blocks of ice in the basement. That room referred to was part of an earlier simple ventilation system which passed air through sprays of water to “wash” it of smoke and impurities before being recirculated.(Yes, they allowed smoking in the balcony back then; in fact through the 1940s. This is why much of the interior decoration and gilding were discolored – from years of nicotine accumulation.) Cooling by blowing over blocks of ice would have added considerably more humidity in the already humid (typically 65-75%) Tropics and would have made the audience VERY uncomfortable! The windows in the auditorium could be opened at night to let the cool tradewinds blow in.

The Hawaii originally opened with 1,760 seats but that changed over the years to allow for better entrance/exit access, re-seating, etc.

I was one of the founders (and second president) of the group formed to save the Hawaii back in 1984 and I have been researching theatres in Honolulu for more than 40 years.

By the way, the 4/16 Robert Morton organ now in the Hawaii was originally in the nearby 1922 Princess Theatre, demolished in 1969 for urban renewal, and we were fortunately able to remove it just ahead of the wrecking ball and moved it to the Hawaii. The Hawaii’s original organ had been moved to the Waikiki in 1937 (and is now at the Palace Theatre in Hilo).

This is a July 2009 photo.

June 2008 photo.

This is a 2008 close-up view.

This is a beautiful theater. I took some pictures today which I will post later.

Charlie Chan at the Hawaii Theater in 1931.

This is a recent night view of the Hawaii Theater.

Added to the National Register of Historical Places in 1978

Hawaii Theatre ** (added 1978 – Building – #78001021)
Also known as New Hawaii Theatre;The Hawaii
1130 Bethel St., Honolulu
Historic Significance: Event, Architecture/Engineering
Architect, builder, or engineer: Pacific Engineering Co., Webb,Marshall
Architectural Style: Art Deco, Classical Revival
Area of Significance: Architecture, Art, Entertainment/Recreation
Period of Significance: 1900-1924
Owner: Private
Historic Function: Recreation And Culture
Historic Sub-function: Theater
Current Function: Recreation And Culture
Current Sub-function: Theater

Vintage photo of the Hawaii Tehatre. Notice all the military waiting in line to get into the theatre.
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Thats a lovely theatre. Great website on it too.

Seating capacity is 1400.

Out last vacation to Hawaii we were fortunate to see the Synphony perfor at the Hawaii theatre. What a beautiful old Movie Palace. We make a trip to Hawaii at least three times a year and out last trip was out first time to visit the Hawaii Theatre. It seems that all the old movie theatres are gones from Honolulu now that the Wakiki 3 haas been closed. All that is left are the multiplexes. What a shame.